MEDFORD, Mass.--With just two events to go, the 4x800m relay and the 4x400m relay, the Ephs trailed rival M.I.T. by three points. At stake was the right to be called the best track and field team in New England for Division III schools. Two events later, the Ephs were celebrating. With a score of 159 points, Williams College barely outdistanced second place M.I.T. (154 points), who was significantly in front of third place Bates (66 points). Springfield College (55) and Amherst (48) rounded out the top five.
In the 4x800, several Ephs split season best times for their relay leg. With 200m to go, Josephat Koima '12 began to kick. However, the M.I.T. athlete several meters behind him also began his kick. Over the next 100m's, Koima's lead diminished more and more. After glancing over his shoulder and seeing the fast-approaching maroon jersey, Koima unleashed a blistering kick to hold off M.I.T's Yermie Cohen. A teammate later described it as the hardest he had ever seen Koima run (and something about a spastic chest muscle). The Ephs 4x800 team ran 7:44.77, easily a season's best, to defeat M.I.T in second (7:45.42) and Bowdoin in third (7:45.71).
Yet with just one event to go, the 4x400, the Ephs still trailed M.I.T. by one point. It is important to remember also that the Ephs did not have the same 4x400 team that competed at Nationals last outdoor season. One athlete from that squad had graduated and two others were injured. Nevertheless, the Ephs again ran a season best 3:17.58. Said leadoff leg Richard Fusco '12: "We knew we were capable of running that time. It was just a matter of all of us putting it together in once race." M.I.T. finished a distant fifth. With that, the Ephs had locked up the Division III Championships.
Of course, the heroics of the last two races would not have been possible without some solid performances earlier in the meet. Like that of Connor Kamm '10, who closed his 1500m race in 1:57. Although he was barely outkicked by Peter Najem of Keene State (who also won the 800m), Kamm's 3:51.64 result was good enough for eight points, second place, a stronger NCAA qualifier, and a personal best. More importantly, it was .28 seconds faster than Yermie Cohen of M.I.T. As if that was not enough, Kamm doubled back in the 5K, winning that race in 14:56, more than seven seconds faster than second place Thompson Oglivie of Bowdoin. Just one day earlier, Corey Watts '10 got the Ephs started on the right note when he won the 10K in 31:48. Watts raced again on Saturday in the 5K and secured more crucial points by finishing fourth in that event.
Jabulani Blyden '13 and Richard Fusco '12 finished 2nd and 4th, respectively, in the 400m, Blyden running a season's best 48.77 seconds. Blyden also was second in the 110m hurdles in fifteen seconds flat and won the 400m hurdles in 54.61 seconds. On the day, Blyden scored a total of 30.5 points for the Ephs, including his share of the winning 4x400m team.
Anthony Raduazo '12 ran a season's best and NCAA automatic qualifier of 9:17 in the 3000m steeplechase were he was second to only Paul Welle of M.I.T.
The Ephs were also supported by Tomas Kearney '12, who had a pair of 2nd place finishes in the high jump and triple jump, and Stephen Simalchek '13, who won the javelin throw. He remains undefeated in that event this season. His throw of 206' 11", although ten feet shy of his lifetime best, was still more than eight feet better than the throw of the second place competitor.
For most of the team, the outdoor track season is over. A few athletes will continue on to ECAC's, Division I All New Englands, and Nationals. And so Saturday was the last time that the majority of the Ephs would compete together as a team. They finished the season on top.
